The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority(GMDA) will open this year’s flood control room at the Sector 53 bus depot on July 3, said officials on Saturday.

Tender for the project was awarded to a private contractor on Thursday.

GMDA officials said that the control room would have a stock of 14 motor pumps, around 30 workers, earthmovers and a hydra crane to deal with possible waterlogging crises.

As per Lalit Arora, chief engineer of the GMDA, the control room will function from June 3 till September 15 at a cost of around Rs. 36 lakh. The tenure may be extended depending on the time period the monsoon lasts.

Unlike last year, when the control room was established at the fire headquarters in Sector 29, V Umashankar, chief executive officer(CEO) of the GMDA said, this year, GMDA officials decided to move the centre at the Sector 53 bus depot, as it has enough space for accommodating the extra machinery procured earlier this year.

Until earlier this month, the GMDA had floated tenders for establishing the control room at Sector 29.

However, the decision to shift the control room to Sector 53 was only changed three weeks ago leading to modifications in the location of the tender.

“We have added more motor pumps, a hydra crane and an earthmover to our list of equipment this year. As they require a bigger space, we have decided to shift our flood control room to the Sector 53 bus depot owned by the GMDA, where space is not a constraint. Since fire service is an emergency service, we did not want to hamper their functioning in any way. Further, it also saves us from paying rent to use their space,” said V Umashankar.

As per GMDA’s tender documents, the civic body has allocated the contract to the Ballabgarh-based Kaveri Pipeline Rehabilitation Private Limited.

As per GMDA officials, the flood control room will have a trolley attached with a moveable diesel pump set fitted with a flexible pipe of over 10 metres length, four motor pumps of 10 horsepower (HP), four motor pumps of 20 HP, an earthmover, a hydra crane, a tractor-mounted pump set with a sewer suction machine, which is capable of extracting 8,000 litres of rainwater per minute, 20 workers working in two shifts (besides 10 workers assigned for operating all the machines), 50 gunny bags filled with sand, safety equipment, such as gumboots, safety belts, rope, mask, oxygen cylinders, and torches for all workers.

The GMDA will be providing diesel for all the machines, as per the tender document.

In addition to the GMDA, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) will be deploying 28 machines and 140 workers for desilting purposes, said officials familiar with the matter.

The MCG looks after all arterial drains and roads, while the GMDA has the responsibility of maintaining all master roads and drains in the city.

“We have identified 30 vulnerable spots in the city where waterlogging was experienced repeatedly last year, and as a precautionary measure, we have decided to allocate one motor pump at each of the spots. At all these spots, an MCG official will be present round the clock. Respective executive engineers of each zone have received directions to supervise the precautionary measures,” said Vivek Gill, executive engineer (headquarters), MCG.

For countering waterlogging, the MCG has stocked four motor pumps of 7.5HP, seven motor pumps of 10HP, one motor pump of 15HP, six tractors fitted with motor pumps, four water jetting machines of 3,000 pounds per square inch (PSI), and five sewerage suction tankers.

In addition, the MCG has also presently assigned 140 workers for desilting purposes, which, Gill said, would be dispersed at spots where waterlogging is experienced.

First Published: Jun 30, 2019 03:16 IST